World's oldest woman dies peacefully at 128

Passed ... after 128 years, Cruz Hernandez ate a tamale, drank some
milk, went to sleep and never woke up.Photo: Reuters/ Luis Galdamez

March 11, 2007

A SALVADORAN woman believed to have been 128 years old and
possibly the world's oldest person, has died, a family friend
says.

Cruz Hernandez, whom national birth records show was born on May
3, 1878, in central El Salvador, passed away in her sleep on
Thursday, neighbour and close family friend Margarita Ascencio
said. Ms Hernandez died without being recognised by the book of
Guinness World Records.

"She had been poorly for a few days, and yesterday, after eating
a tamale and drinking some milk, she went to sleep and never woke
up," Ms Ascencio said.

Ms Hernandez gave birth to 13 children and ended up with at
least 60 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren and 25 great-great
grandchildren.

Many who knew her attributed her longevity to her favourite
drink of a beer with two raw eggs in it.

A midwife until she was 100 years old, Ms Hernandez died at her
home in the town of San Agustin, having spent her last months
unable to speak and mainly dozing.

About 200 guests celebrated her 128th birthday in May, and
national birth registry officials sent her documents to the
Guinness World Records organisation last year, but did not get a
reply.

Guinness had American Emma Faust Tillman, 114, registered as the
world's oldest person until she died in January.

The International Committee on Supercentenarians has
114-year-old Japanese woman Yone Minagawa listed as the world's
oldest person.

Guinness said the longest any woman has lived is 122 years.

The oldest man was 120 when he died in 1986.

What was happening in the world in 1878

Phonograph patented by Thomas Edison.

Advance Australia Fair first sung publicly, in Sydney.

University of London grants academic degrees to women.

First commercial telephone exchange opens in Connecticut,
US.

Remington Typewriter Company founded.

Foundation of Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway Football Club, later Manchester United.